1. Descriptive of summoning back or the retrieval of a person's memories: The original, philosophical meaning of anamnestic things or times involved the taking of recollections from an individual's past existences and using them in his or her current life with rational thoughts and true knowledge.
2. Relating to the proposed equivalent of devices that exist for remembering something: This term can also apply to a patient's medical history when a doctor takes notes on someone's anamnestic conditions during his or her first visit.
3. Etymology: Anamnestic is a Greek word that refers to "a calling to mind," from the roots ana-, "back," and mimneskesthai, "to recall" or "to cause to remember."